


What is Reality?

by Katrina



Series: Lots of Rosi ficlets [14]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 2009-4-19, Back to reality, But not quite, Community: dailyprompt, Gen, Virtual Reality, because they might be something of mad scientists, more AUs, self-testing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 12:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17366306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrina/pseuds/Katrina
Summary: Knowing that he's dying doesn't keep Rosi from smiling. What happens instead might.





	What is Reality?

**Author's Note:**

> For DailyPrompt on Dreamwidth  
> 2009-4-19: back to reality
> 
> I do love writing AUs. If you got any AUs you'd like to see, feel free to toss them at me in comments. I might go for it.

He remembered the cold of snow under his back. Was wet and would have sent shivers through him if he’d been able to shiver. That took too much energy, and Rosi knew he just didn’t have it. 

Wasn’t going to get it, either. Breathing hurt, his lungs full of blood and holes. Never a good thing.

But he didn’t stop smiling, because he knew Law was free. 

Then he wasn’t cold anymore, but he still couldn’t breath. 

“Rosi!” There were hands on his shoulders, and he curled forward, coughing and gagging as his lungs refused to work for a moment. The hands on him helped Rosi sit up and lean forward, the blond still choking and fighting to breath. 

Memories were jumbled in his mind, and someone was rubbing his back. Different than the one who still was helping brace him, the palm large against his spine.

“Not sure that I like the system made me the bad guy. I’m definitely a hero,” came Doffy’s voice, trying for humor. Though Rosi could hear the thread of worry that ran under the attempt. 

“At least you were an adult,” came Law’s voice. As he was finally able to breathe, Rosi was slowly registering what was going on. 

Had been helping test the new VR prototype. It was the next step, and had been working well on the animal test subjects. They had even been running human trials, but all the volunteers were reporting that there was something odd about the system. None of them were able to explain it, other than they had gotten lost. 

There didn’t seem to be any side effects, and they were just running random scenarios . It was supposed to be the next step in the gaming VR system. Doffy seemed pleased that there were already rumors spreading about it.

But, then, Doffy was their PR guy, and general assistant in the lab itself. Mostly because he bullied his way into it. He was curious about how they put things together, even if he wasn’t interested in the details of how it worked.

Though the main brains of the project was Law. He was the cleverest of them. 

A moment after Doffy spoke, both of the men were pushed back as the medics took over. A mask was put over his face, and Rosi found he was able to breath a little easier. 

Then he had to deal with all the poking and prodding that came with coming out of the VR simulation. 

A short time later, with the medics still lurking around, Law and Doffy were sitting around Rosi. Who had managed to somehow obtain a cup of hot chocolate. Rosi was still blinking at it in a bit of bemusement, unsure of how he actually got the cup. Maybe one of the medics...?

“I don’t like that reaction,” Law said finally, frowning. “We’ve never had had situation where someone died in the environment.” He was fidgeting, obviously wanting to touch Rosi, but trying to keep things at least semi-professional. Everyone knew that the pair were dating, but they did their best to keep it out of the workplace.

Well, Rosi was having a bad moment, and he reached out and caught Law’s hand. The dark haired man gave a faint smile, letting their fingers lace together. 

“It....” Rosi frowned, trying to figure out how to put it into words. He understood now why the other test subjects had such difficulty explaining things. “I forgot...this.” 

Rosi waved at everything around them with the hand holding his cup. Managed to spill some of it over his fingers, and he hissed. Though it was vaguely muted. He paused, studying it a moment. There was a slight disconnect from his sense of touch. “Huh....”

Law’s fingers tightened on his. “What do you mean you forgot? And ‘huh’?” Gold eyes narrowed as he studied Rosi. The older man gave a faint smile. 

“I didn’t remember that I wasn’t Donquixote Rosinante, Celestial Dragon and Marine spy. There was nothing in my mind that even hinted at the idea none of it was real.” He grimaced. “And when I first woke up, I couldn’t breath. It felt like my body couldn’t remember how to do it. Even now, I don’t....” Rosi paused, running his thumb over Law’s hand. “This doesn’t quite feel like I’m touching you.” He frowned, rubbing Law’s hand again. 

“Like there’s a layer of cloth between you and me.”

Law and Doffy exchanged glances. 

“No more testing,” Law said. Doffy frowned, but then nodded. He could see the reasoning for pausing. At least until they could figure out what was triggering it.

“Why didn’t anyone else report this,” the oldest one asked, frowning as he looked down at his little brother. 

Rosi shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t do a lot of touching, and it wasn’t until I spilled the hot chocolate on myself that I registered it.” 

“More research,” Law said. “But until we figure it out, and see how long this effect lasts, no more testing. Period.”

And that was really the final word of it.

Rosi just squeezed Law’s fingers and hoped this wasn’t going to last long. It was weird, and he didn’t like it. 

Hopefully, this was the worst of the side effects.


End file.
